A look back at the August 2017 Tulsa tornado
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — It was as unexpected as it was strange. Three years ago today, an overnight thunderstorm fired up and dropped a tornado right through central Tulsa.
The August EF2 tornado touched down east of South Harvard and south of East 36th Street.
In total, it injured 25 people and damaged dozens of homes and businesses.
It's estimated the winds peaked near 130 mph between Yale and Sheridan near 41st street where the damage was the worst.
Amazingly, no one was killed in the storm. That’s despite the fact that a tornado warning was issued after the twister had already hit.
The National Weather Service says the storm’s timing of 1:19 a.m. likely saved lives. Had it happened earlier with more people outside, things could have been much worse.
The storm dropped two other tornadoes that night. An EF1 in Broken Arrow and another EF1 east of Oologah.
Both of those storms damaged structures and large trees along their respective tracks.
It’s a good but sometimes painful reminder that when you live in Oklahoma, severe weather can happen any time of year and every storm needs to be taken seriously.
